Stormybkln
10-20-2008, 3:33 PM
Hi everyone! Let me start by introducing myself and telling you a little about my setup.
My name is Storm (and yes, it is my real name) and I am in Brooklyn, NY. I recently started up my tank again after a year hiatus. I originally had goldfish, plecos and catfish in my 55 gallon, but after all the fish died I put the tank away. I started the tank up again about 2 weeks ago, and right now there's only aquatic plants in the aquarium (a lot of them). I am trying to get the water conditioned before I start adding fish. I am going to go tropical freshwater this time, tetras, neons, maybe guppies, plecos, small catfish, etc... I always fed my goldfish a mixture of flakes, pellets, frozen beefhearts, brine shrimp, blood worms, and frozen cabbage and live plants to nibble on. Unless it's unhealthy for tropical fish, I will give the new fish the same diet.
As I said, I have a 55 gallon with wood stand and hood, undergravel filter, Fluval 404 with a MarineLand BioWheel Pro 30, Aquatic Gardens 3500, 4500 and two 7500 air pumps connected to a bunch of bubble stips, disks and pods around the sides of the aquarium. I also have a MarineLand 5 LED light setup and a Hagen 3 LED pod light setup. Nothing too special, just a setup that's nice and relaxing to watch.
The water levels are still a little off, so I don't plan on adding fish for another week or so, I just figured that I would add the plants along with water conditioner and some other chemicals and let everything level off.
If anyone can give me some tips on getting the water right, I would appreciate it very much. I'm using the Petco brand 5 way strips, and the readings are as follows:
NO3 - 40
NO2 - 10
pH - 6.5
Alk - 300+
TH - 0
I know the hardness is OK, but everything else is very off. I used regular tap water, and like I said, added conditioner, BioZyme and plants. I have the light on a 10 hour on, 14 hour off cycle, and at least one chamber of every type of media in the filter canister. I am going back to Petco later this evening to get pH7.5 to add to the tank to try and raise my pH levels. Anything else I should pick up? I've also added 1oz. of AmQuel+, about 1/2oz. of API tap water conditioner and 1/2oz. of Accu-Clear.
I am a bit of an animal lover, I also have three dogs, a cat, rats, mice, gerbils and degus, so I pretty much have a little zoo at home.
Thanks in advance, and I look forward to getting a lot of useful information here and doing things right with the aquarium this time.
My name is Storm (and yes, it is my real name) and I am in Brooklyn, NY. I recently started up my tank again after a year hiatus. I originally had goldfish, plecos and catfish in my 55 gallon, but after all the fish died I put the tank away. I started the tank up again about 2 weeks ago, and right now there's only aquatic plants in the aquarium (a lot of them). I am trying to get the water conditioned before I start adding fish. I am going to go tropical freshwater this time, tetras, neons, maybe guppies, plecos, small catfish, etc... I always fed my goldfish a mixture of flakes, pellets, frozen beefhearts, brine shrimp, blood worms, and frozen cabbage and live plants to nibble on. Unless it's unhealthy for tropical fish, I will give the new fish the same diet.
As I said, I have a 55 gallon with wood stand and hood, undergravel filter, Fluval 404 with a MarineLand BioWheel Pro 30, Aquatic Gardens 3500, 4500 and two 7500 air pumps connected to a bunch of bubble stips, disks and pods around the sides of the aquarium. I also have a MarineLand 5 LED light setup and a Hagen 3 LED pod light setup. Nothing too special, just a setup that's nice and relaxing to watch.
The water levels are still a little off, so I don't plan on adding fish for another week or so, I just figured that I would add the plants along with water conditioner and some other chemicals and let everything level off.
If anyone can give me some tips on getting the water right, I would appreciate it very much. I'm using the Petco brand 5 way strips, and the readings are as follows:
NO3 - 40
NO2 - 10
pH - 6.5
Alk - 300+
TH - 0
I know the hardness is OK, but everything else is very off. I used regular tap water, and like I said, added conditioner, BioZyme and plants. I have the light on a 10 hour on, 14 hour off cycle, and at least one chamber of every type of media in the filter canister. I am going back to Petco later this evening to get pH7.5 to add to the tank to try and raise my pH levels. Anything else I should pick up? I've also added 1oz. of AmQuel+, about 1/2oz. of API tap water conditioner and 1/2oz. of Accu-Clear.
I am a bit of an animal lover, I also have three dogs, a cat, rats, mice, gerbils and degus, so I pretty much have a little zoo at home.
Thanks in advance, and I look forward to getting a lot of useful information here and doing things right with the aquarium this time.